Hotline Cooperative mailing list, PROVIDED THAT no changes
are made, credit is given and headers are included. Queries
and comments to CMBO, please, not to transcriber. You have
reached the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of the New
Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory.
Highlights for the week ending April 25, 1996 include
HARLEQUIN DUCK, BLACK-HEADED GULL, AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER,
spring migrants, news of local nature notes, and
news of CMBO's upcoming programs and field trips.

CMBO's Loon Outing savored COMMON LOONS and HORNED GREBES, both
in breeding plumage, in Sunset Lake in Wildwood Crest -- a rare
treat seen briefly before they migrate north, and good looks at
N. GANNETS and lots of RED-THROATED LOONS flying by the Concrete
Ship, among many other wonderful spring sightings.

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS are fairly regular at feeders and
gardens now. Males return first and set up territories, then
females follow. Since our hummingbird gardens are pretty sparse
to non-existent right now, be sure to hang your feeders if you
want hummers to stay and nest in your yard. But realize the task
you are taking on ... feeders need to cleaned out thoroughly each
week and refilled with fresh solution. In the spring you only
need to put 1-2 inches of solution in your feeders.

FOWLER'S TOADS are calling their distinctive baby-like crying
call now -- "waaaaaaaaaaa." LEOPARD FROGS are giving their
guttural call and GREEN FROGS are giving their banjo-like
"plunking" calls. CARPENTER FROGS are also hammering out their
calls. Snakes and turtles have come out of winter hibernation
and might be found sunning.

Shadbush is in bloom, a lovely small tree or large shrub, with
delicate white flowers, quite common along the Parkway. It
blooms when shad, a type of fish, move up the Delaware Bay and
river to spawn. Highbush Blueberries are beginning to bloom.
And Dogwood flowers are just opening. Flowering Quince or
Joponica is in bloom, a favorite with hungry hummingbirds.

PROGRAM INFORMATION:

CMBO's upcoming preregistration programs include a "Spring
Butterfly & Dragonfly Field Trip" on May 4, NJ Audubon's Cape May
Spring Weekend May 17th through the 19th, a "Weeklong Spring
Birding Workshop" with Pete Dunne and CMBO Staff May 20-24,
"Shorebirds on the Delaware Bayshore" field trips daily May
20-29 (except May 26), an "Osprey Nests by Boat" trip on June 8,
and 3 "Butterfly Counts" in late June.

CMBO sponsored "Birding By Boat trips" aboard The Skimmer are
offered Every Sund ay from 1-4 p.m. and Every Monday from 9 a.m.
to Noon. To register for these CMBO sponsored boat trips, call
The Skimmer directly at 609-884-3712.

Our spring daily bird and butterfly walks have begun and reguire
no preregistration -- JUST COME! Every Sunday Louise Zemaitis
leads a Bird & Butterfly Walk at Hidden Valley, meeting at 7:30
a.m. in the small clamshell parking lot on the south side of New
England Road 0.3 miles past the intersection with Bayshore Road.
Every Tuesday Pete Dunne leads a "Birds of the Seashore" walk
through The Nature Conservancy's Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge,
meeting at 7:30 a.m., and Mike Fritz leads a "Sunset Birding at
Stone Harbor Point & Nummy's Island," meeting at 5:30 p.m. in
the Stone Harbor Point Parking Lot. Every Wednesday Pat Sutton
leads a "Butterfly Walk in Belleplain" at 9 a.m., meeting at the
end of Jakes Landing Road. Every Thursday CMBO offers a "Spring
Birding in Belleplain" walk, meeting at 7:30 a.m. at the
Belleplain State Forest Field Office. Every Friday Fred Mears
and/or Bill Glaser lead a "Higbee Beach Bird Walk" at 7:30 a.m.
Every Saturday Tom Parsons leads a "Birding Cape May Point" walk,
meeting at 7:3 0 a.m. in the raised picnic pavilion at the Cape
May Point State Park. Stop by our office and pick up the program
schedule for more details or give us a call at 609-884-2736 and
we'll mail it to you.

The Cape May Bird Observatory is a research and education
unit of the New Jersey Audubon Society. Our aim is to
perpetuate and preserve the ornithological significance of
Cape May. Your membership supports these goals and this
birding hotline. For more information regarding Cape May
birding, our programs and field trips, and the Observatory,
call our office at 609-884-2736 or a send a request for
info to CMBO, P.O. Box 3, Cape May Point, NJ 08212. If you
are in the area, do not hesitate to visit our headquarters
and growing birding bookstore at 707 E. Lake Dr., Cape May
Point. We're open 9-5 every day but Monday.

The Cape May birding hotline [(609) 884-2626] is a service
of Cape May Bird Observatory and includes sightings from
Cape May, Atlantic, and Cumberland counties and adjacent
areas. Updates are made on Thursday evening, more often if
warranted. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds
to CMBO at (609) 884-2736. Thank you for calling; good birding.